


your typical monday evening

by maxelau



Series: the trials and tribulations of being a superhero [3]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Fluff, Longing, M/M, Secret Identity, Snippets, Soft Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, jaemin misses jeno
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:34:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26598385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maxelau/pseuds/maxelau
Summary: it's a monday evening. a boring one, jaemin adds, so he pays jeno a visit.orsae is tired, bored after a very uneventful mission, and simply misses his superhero boyfriend, aiden. thus, he pays him a visit. much to his dismay, aiden is in the middle of a top-secret mission.
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Series: the trials and tribulations of being a superhero [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1822906
Comments: 9
Kudos: 56





	your typical monday evening

**Author's Note:**

> again, like always, as this is a random snippet of aiden and sae's lives this has no fixed timeline but i can confidently say this was before "A Hole in the Wall" and a little after "what a night"
> 
> — a short really weird snippet  
> — enjoy!

It’s a Monday evening and Jaemin could only stare in the black abyss sprinkled with the starlight colors of an evening skyline. Today isn't the best but it isn't the worst either. It’s mellow and stagnant, almost boring if he’s being honest. His classes passed by in a crazy haze of half-assed homework and the drowsy drawl of his teachers dictating lectures. In short, his head was buried deep in his books, not because he was reading but because he was asleep. Besides, most of his teachers are either intimidated or too terrified to confront his lack of enthusiasm for classes. Sometimes, he thought, coming from an influential family has its incredible perks.

The mission was a walk in the park, quite literally. All he had to do was make sure no one was going to sabotage the mayor’s annual motorcade. Plus, he wasn't alone, Mus and Apollo were by his side. Though, Apollo wasn’t happy about the arrangement. He claims it’s a little too boring for his taste. He thought he could finally flex his upgraded gear but to his dismay, all he did was walk and jump on top of buildings. To make things even more peculiar, a senior super—Moon, was with them even though it was a minor mission. 

“Huang wasn’t with you today,” Sae says when he reaches Aiden’s spot on the rooftop. He’s sitting on a skylight, exposing the dark empty museum floor. They're on one of the highest buildings in the city, where the wind picks up its speed, overlooking the busy streets, highlighting the bright and lively city of Nero. Instead of appreciating the view, Aiden is crouching, face almost touching the glass, eyeing something inside. 

The hood that usually covers Aiden’s fluffy brown hair is discarded and today, instead of his white and red suit, he’s wearing an all-black cloak that flaps majestically with the cold breeze of the evening. He looks like a nightmare—a dark figure that could haunt one's dream but in Sae’s eyes, he’s beautiful, mysterious, and elegant. He simply can't look away. 

“What are you doing here?” Aiden asks instead, taking a quick glance at Sae before returning his attention to the glass pane. With Aiden’s immense speed and ridiculous mask, Sae almost trips and falls embarrassingly on his ass. Sometimes, he forgets how terrifying Aiden can be when he wears his stealth suit. Along with the black, almost invisible clothing, the white and red kitsune mask look like a floating head that Jaemin almost, due to reflex, grabbed one of his throwing knives. 

“Nothing,” Sae shrugs, feigning coolness, as he watches Aiden snap his fingers and whisper commands back in his comms to Haechan. Sae doesn't hear the exchange since he's connected to a different line. 

Aiden shuffles and in a swift movement, slowly raises himself from the ground. He’s levitating now, the black slit eyes of his mask are now glowing in fiery orange.

Sae instinctively ducks and covers his eyes. In the cool night sky, Aiden is a blinding spark, a scorching hot presence. No matter how many times he sees this, the sweat-inducing and blinding light slightly scare him. Is it because he‘s the child of darkness? Opposite from the child of the light— the cosmos, the stars? It could be. Neon finds Aiden’s presence delightful, like a warm afternoon summer breeze. Sae doesn’t feel that, in fact, to him, Aiden’s presence is a mysterious wonder—an unexplored cavern, but instead of a dark murky atmosphere, it's a soft force, as if you were stuck in the deepest depths of the ocean finally, you see it. A specter of sunlight, zipping past the wavy trenches, highlighting the magnificence of what Sae used to call hell. 

“Where the hell are you?” Sae’s intercom buzzes. A distress call from HQ. It’s Haechan. He ignores it and instead watches Aiden get engulfed in flame. He gulps, licks his lips, and stares in awe. They've worked together for years but Sae can never get used to how beautiful Aiden looks when he channels his power from the star. 

“Sae, where the hell are you?” Haechan repeats, this time slower, emphasizing the clear annoyance in his voice. “I’m not messing with you buddy, this is real,” there’s an urgency in Haechan’s tone that forces Sae to snap out of it. Cursing quietly to himself, he presses the intercom clipped to his ears, and Donghyuck’s annoyed face flashes on his goggles. This obscures his front-row seat to Aiden’s little mission. 

“What?” Sae asks, unable to hide the annoyance in his voice making Donghyuck grumble under his breath. 

“I’ll make it fast. Listen to me closely,” Donghyuck says without looking at Sae, eyes focused on his screen instead. His fingers rapidly gliding through his keyboards. 

“What is it?” 

Donghyuck frowns, glares at Sae for a brief second before he hears more tapping and clicking. On the side, Aiden’s flare evaporates in a snap, leaving trails of smoke in the crisp air along with the smell of burnt wood. Sae feels it, Aiden’s curious eyes watching him for a brief second. 

“—why are you with Aiden? How the hell did you find him?” Donghyuck asks exasperatedly. 

“You know what, don't answer it," Donghyuck continues, dismissing Sae's attempt to reply. "Ever since you two started being romantically involved you turned into this cheeseball. I don't want to hear anything shitty from you as _I found him because of love_ or something equally disgusting—”

Sae rolls his eyes, crosses his arms, and taps his foot. From the corner of his eyes, he could tell Aiden knows what's up. Nevertheless, his boyfriend doesn't pry more and continues on with his mission. 

“He’s on a solo mission. It can’t be compromised. Do you know how hard it is? He needed me and Zeus to disable security! He needs utmost stealth—” 

“I am the definition of stealth,” Sae cuts Donghyuck off. 

Donghyuck sighs, “Yeah right, shadow demon spawn from whatever hell you came from. Back to business buddy. Leave Jeno alone. Yes, I’m breaking protocol because when you get over your goddamn head I need to tick you off a little. Neo needs you, his little robin. You must come to his aid immediately.”

Sae taps Donghyuck’s video off for a minute and doesn't wait for him to continue his little rant. Sae takes a deep breath and sighs. The woes of responsibility and loyalty as a sidekick is really making him wonder why the hell did he even agree to this? He inhales once again. That’s right, there were _reasons_. A lot of them.

Instead of turning his comms back on, he watches Aiden fiddle with his gadgets. He pulls out a mini tracking device and drops it off the minuscule hole he just made.

If Jaemin is being honest, whatever this top-secret mission was, he wasn’t interested. He just wanted to see Jeno, talk to him for a minute or so. Besides, he barely sees the guy he’s dating and even if they both go to the same school, they weren't really allowed to interact. Short exchange from unsuspecting passersby is all right but occasionally meeting up would be too much of a stretch. And they have an eagle watching them in every possible minute: Lee Donghyuck, the actual spawn of satan. If Jaemin ever comes within Jeno’s peripheral view, Donghyuck sweeps in like a predator and pulls him out like a prey. 

“You should leave,” Aiden says abruptly without even a glance at Jaemin's direction.

“Don’t you ever miss me?” Jaemin asks. It sounded more like a whine, almost a longing tone, than a real question. Despite his face being covered by a mask, Jaemin could tell Jeno’s eyebrow is arched in a questioning manner. 

Aiden stops fiddling with the controller attached to his wristwatch and approaches Jaemin in silent steps. “What’s gotten into you? Wipe that frown on your face. It doesn’t work with the whole black and blue get up.”

This time Jaemin lets himself go and pouts. “You don’t miss me, do you? You don’t yearn for my touch even if we pass each other on the hallways or when—”

Aiden raises his hand at him, surprised by the sudden act, “Haechan, yeah, he’s being a little— no. Fine.” 

“You didn’t even let me finish.”

“Open your comms, it's an emergency.”

“It sure doesn’t sound like one.”

“I’m serious Sae"

"Fine, but you owe me a date."

"Done. Just, go."

Sae watches Aiden walk back to his post, his coat flapping against the cold wind, broad back powerful and confident as he

Finally, Sae opens his comms once again, earning a very colorful string of insults from Haechan's side. 

"Anyway, little shit," Donghyuck says after. "I sent you Neo's coordinates. They'll be on your screen in 3, 2, 1..."

He spots it. A big red dot northeast from where he is. Neo is only a few kilometers away, nothing his shadow travel cannot handle. For the last time, Jaemin steals one last look at Jeno. Heavily covered by his stealth suit and mask, he could only make out his silhouette in the dark. The moon isn't showing up tonight it seems, even the stars feel weaker judging by the way Jeno would use his powers minimally, but the night—the darkness. It reigns. Jaemin could feel it seep through his bones, ignite every strand of his hair like an electric shock. He lets it crackle through his fingertips. A black hole forming materializing in front of him. An entrance to the other world no one is familiar but him.

"Jaemin before you go," Donghyuck says right before Jaemin steps inside his shadow and turn all communications off. 

"What is it?" he asks, looking back at Aiden once again who, this time was watching him. The eyes on his mask glowing fiery again. 

"He's nervous," Donghyuck sighs. 

"Who is? Neo? That guy can handle a few more minutes without me."

"No, Jeno is."

"What?"

In a flash, Jeno is in front of Jaemin. Mask still on, Jeno slips his fingers inside it, with his other hand he cups Jaemin's face and leads him closer to him. Their foreheads are almost touching. The move causes something to stir in Jaemin, a swirl of emotions deep in his stomach piercing through his heart. Are they butterflies? Nevertheless, Jaemin responds, he takes Jeno's hand on his cheek against his own and caresses it. A small intimate gesture. An answer, a response to Jeno's.

A glow sparks inside of Jeno's mask, slowly he takes his fingers out and places it on Jaemin's lips—warm and soft; almost familiar just like Jeno's lips. _It can't be_. It's a chaste kiss, innocent even. It was the type to leave a scorching mark on one's skin and etched its way down to one's heart. Jaemin almost falters. He blinks, stares intently at Jeno while his heart drums in his ears. 

"Oh," He says a few seconds later. 

"I—yeah. Stay safe okay?" Jeno whispers back, he swipes the edge of Jaemin's lips one last time before pushing Jaemin into darkness. 

* * *

"Well, that was something," Donghyuck's voice cracks through the intercom the moment Jaemin falls on his ass on the wet pavement, a few meters away from a dangling Neo. 

Sae clicks his tongue, scours the abandoned warehouse, before quietly approaching Neo's tied figure. "You saw it didn't you?" 

Donghyuck hums, "hey, it was your heartbeat that went haywire. I had to check." Sae doesn't reply, he fishes for his throwing knives and throws it at the rope. 

"Besides," Donghyuck muses. "The real reason we had to kick you out was that Jeno was having a hard time concentrating with you hovering around. His heartbeat was crazier than yours. But you didn't hear that from me." 

**Author's Note:**

> — i have two more pending stories in this series. jaemin's past (kinda) and the story after the events of 'A Hole in the Wall." Let's see who gets done first.  
> — the others are still in the planning process, sadly.  
> — my uni life is hectic af so updates might be slower.  
> — was this boring? it felt kind of boring tbh, idk i wanted something domestic and stupid. hopefully, it wasn't  
> — your comments and kudos are well appreciated!!  
> — [ twt ](https://twitter.com/jenseungs)  
> 


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